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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

c-Fos, b-cel; mass, diabetes, global health concerns

College

Life Sciences

Department

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science

Abstract

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are major global health concerns. Both types of diabetes result in loss of functional β-cell mass, which is defined as the β-cell number multiplied by insulin secretion rate. The number of β-cells is derived from the cellular proliferation and death rates. Increasing functional β-cell mass could cure diabetes through pancreatic islet transplants or by strengthening endogenous cells. Various groups have shown that the β-cells proliferation rate is extremely low after adolescence in the majority of the population. However, β-cell proliferation has been shown to increase during physiological conditions such as pregnancy and obesity (1). This demonstrates that the molecular mechanisms that permit β-cell proliferation can be activated, given the right signals, after adolescence.

Included in

Nutrition Commons

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